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Still No Agreement Between Western States, Including CA, on How to Reduce Colorado River Water Use

/in , , /by /ABC 7 by Rob McMillan

With the Colorado River in crisis, there is still no agreement over which states and regions should have their water allocations cut back and how soon those cuts should go into effect.

Seven states in the western United States take water from the Colorado River, and although six of them have agreed on a framework, the lone holdout is the largest user of Colorado River water in the county: California.

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Lake Mead Water Levels: Could California Speed Up Recovery?

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Anna Skinner

As Lake Mead and Lake Powell levels inch closer to dead pool, states in the lower Colorado River basin are proposing more solutions that could lend to the reservoirs’ recoveries.

Required water cuts have already been implemented and increased in severity this year for Arizona and Nevada.

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SoCal Homeowners Can Get More Drought-Resistant Plants Installed With This Rebate Offer

/in , , /by /ABC 7 by Leo Stallworth

As the state continues to deal with a historic drought, Southern California homeowners are getting the chance to transform their thirsty grass and gardens.

The Metropolitan Water District offers rebates to residents ripping up their lawns and putting in plants that don’t need a lot of water to survive.

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SCV Water Oks Plan to Address Projects’ Costs With Future Rate Increases

/in , /by /The Signalby Perry Smith

The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency unanimously approved a bond issuance that would raise $75 million by 2032 and a debt-financing plan that would saddle the water retailer with a little more than a half-billion dollars in debt, according to the agency’s plans.

The efforts are expected to help the agency address capital projects’ costs estimated in the neighborhood of $747 million through the life of the bond issuance, according to SCV Water’s financial advisers.

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RMWD Quitclaims Bonsall Oaks Easements

/in , /by /Village Newsby Joe Naiman

The redesign of the planned Bonsall Oaks development will involve the relocation of facilities for which easements must be granted and, on Jan. 24, the Rainbow Municipal Water District approved the quitclaim of easements previously granted to Rainbow.

Rainbow’s board voted 5-0 to approve the quitclaim of the easements. The quitclaim excludes certain portions for which facilities will be constructed, and subsequent easement dedication is expected.

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California Storms Left Behind a ‘Generational Snowpack.’ What That Means.

/in , , /by /The Washington Postby Diana Leonard

California’s mountain snowpack is the largest it’s been in decades, thanks to a barrage of atmospheric rivers in late December into January. The snow is a boon for the state’s water supply but could also pose a flood risk as the season progresses.

Measurements completed last week show that Sierra Nevada snow water content is rivaling or outpacing the 1982-83 season, the biggest snow year in the past 40 years. Up to two feet of additional snow fell on the region this weekend.

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Opinion: The Fight Over the Colorado River is a 100-Year-Old Interstate Grudge Match

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Michael Hiltzik

Arizona was girding for war with California over the Colorado River.

The year was 1934 and the place was the construction site of Parker Dam, downstream from the nearly completed Hoover Dam.

Arizona Gov. Benjamin Baker Moeur, irked that a federally approved interstate compact had awarded California more water from the Colorado than he thought it deserved, dispatched a squad of National Guard troops to the river on a ferryboat to block the new dam’s construction.

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Ukiah to Expand Recycled Water Project, Offset a Whopping 50% of Water Use by Treating Wastewater

/in , /by /The Mendocino Voiceby Kate Fishman

The city of Ukiah has received a $53.7 million grant to expand its water recycling project across multiple schools and parks, enabling the city to offset 50% of its average water use with treated wastewater by fall of 2024.

Ukiah’s program falls under an overall goal by the State Water Resources Control Board to increase California’s use of recycled water, which according to the Volumetric Annual Report of Wastewater and Recycled Water stood at 731,586 acre-feet per year in 2021.

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California Plays ‘Hardball’ With Colorado River States Over Cutbacks

/in , , /by /The Hillby Sharon Udasin

A multistate quest to protect a dwindling Colorado River has devolved into a high-stakes battle pitting California against its neighbors.

At odds are two dueling proposals as to how seven states should apportion critical consumption cuts that could help save the lifeblood of the Western United States.

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In a Dramatic Spike, 36.3 Million Trees Died in California Last Year. Drought, Disease Blamed

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Nathan Solis

Roughly 36.3 million dead trees were counted across California in 2022, a dramatic increase from previous years that experts are blaming on drought, insects and disease, according to a report by the U.S. Forest Service.

The same survey for 2021 counted 9.5 million dead trees in the state, but the effects of last year’s dramatic die-off are more severe and spread across a wider range, according to the report released Tuesday.

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